You’re either going to love it or hate it. During the Infringement Festival one Elmwood property owner offered up his empty building to four graffiti artists in order to attract some interest in the storefront. As I was taking photos of the facade earlier today, Infringer Curt Rotterdam happened to be passing by on his bike. He told me that the property had an interesting history, and that back in the day the Goo Goo Dolls used to practice inside. He also told me that U2 had autographed one of the walls. “I’m thinking that I might like to turn it into an art collective space,” Curt told me. “It’s the perfect location for something like that. Now that people are noticing it, the storefront is likely to get a tenant… and if it doesn’t then I might just do something myself. Basically, I could continue to run Infringement type of activities throughout the year, host gallery showings and let artists use the space.”
No matter what happens to the building, one thing is for certain – people are noticing the facade. Personally I think it’s a good fit for Allentown [ducks]. Curt tells me that the intention is to have rotating graffiti artists showcase their work on a regular basis. That means that the building will constantly be changing in appearance. Then, when a permanent occupant moves in we will most likely see something different. Unless Curt manages to work something out to secure the space, which would mean that the storefront would have an extremely charismatic appearance that would constantly leave us wondering, “What’s next?”
The storefront is located on Elmwood in Allentown, near Virginia.
^Sides of the building
BRO commentor Bung’s first comment on this post gives us an inside look into Buffalo graffiti culture via the following video that was produced as a message to save 5 Pointz in NYC. Check it out: